The results of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003-2004 indicate that an estimated two-thirds of U.S. adults are either overweight or obese, and the prevalence of obesity is increasing, especially in young people, affecting approximately 17% of Americans 2-19 years of age. With increased obesity, there is an elevation of lipids in the bloodstream, termed lipidemia, which is a major risk factor for the development of metabolic syndrome and heart disease, the number one causes of death in the U.S.
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and associated pathologies are a major public health concern in the United States and worldwide. Efforts to treat T2DM are hampered by our incomplete understanding of the complex metabolic pathways and inter-tissue crosstalk involved in the control of whole-body glucose and fatty acid metabolism. Many secreted endocrine factors/hormones play key roles in mediating inter-tissue crosstalk to maintain energy balance. In recent years, adipose tissue-secreted factors (collectively termed adipokine) have emerged as important “metabolic regulators” that act on multiple tissue types to modulate processes including food intake, insulin sensitivity, glucose and fatty acid utilization, and inflammation. The functions of these adipokines are important for normal metabolic homeostasis; dysregulation of the pathways they modulate contributes to metabolic diseases, such as obesity, inflammation, and T2DM.
Thus, a need exists for an effective treatment for complications associated with obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome, specifically by helping to control blood glucose levels, and specifically, a need exists to identify novel factors regulating inter-tissue crosstalk, such that methods for treating disorders such as Type 2 diabetes mellitus can be developed.